TabletTails

Combine Diigo with Google Docs to provide both shared and private annotations

2012-02-02T09:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I was asked by a teacher if there was a way to have private teacher-only comments on a Google Doc that was shared with a student. To clarify, the student would not see the teacher-only comments but would see any shared comments.

The teacher started using Google Docs this semester as a way for individual students to write reflections shared only with him that he could then easily comment back on using the Google Docs comment feature. His request made sense as a way for the teacher to make notes on the same document but for himself only, which he could then refer back to when writing end of term comments at report card time.

As I've used Google Docs a lot myself to collect work and then comment back to students, my initial answer was no since Google does not support separate rights on the comments (yet?). However, it later occurred to me that combining Diigo with Google Docs might do this.

If you aren't familiar with Diigo, it is an online social bookmarking service. However, what makes it stand out from other similar services is that if you install a browser add-in, you can annotate most web pages with highlighting and sticky notes. These annotations can be shared with everyone, a limited group to which you are a member, or only with yourself. These annotations are stored on Diigo's servers and appear back to you anytime you access the original web page from any computer (if you have the browser plug-in enabled).

Unfortunately, It turns out that you can not highlight text using Diigo in a private Google Doc. However, the sticky note feature does work. Therefore, you can use Diigo sticky notes to facilitate private comments to yourself on a Google Doc you are sharing with others.

VHS Audio: Making the Case for Blended Learning by Wesley Fryer

2012-01-30T14:37:00.001-05:00

I just started an online class at Virtual High School on the topic of online, blended instruction. One of the first resources presented for the course is the recording below on blended learning by Wesley Fryer. As I generally consume audio via a portable MP3 player instead of sitting in front of a computer, I wanted an easy way to subscribe to any audio resources presented by the instructor. Therefore, I'm using the vhs-audio tag on this blog to compile a podcast of this and future audio resources related to the course. Anyone can subscribe to this audio feed using the address

http://tablettails.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default/-/vhs-audio

Moving at the Speed of Creativity - Podcast217: Making the Case for Blended Learning (MP3) - January 18, 2008
Source: Moving at the Speed of Creativity - Weblog of Wesley Fryer
This MP3 was published by Wesley Fryer under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) license.

Show notes from Wesley Fryer:

This podcast is a recording of a thirty minute skype connection I made to GT teachers in Ector County Schools, Odessa, Texas, on January 18, 2008. The focus of my presentation was making the case for using and supporting blended learning tools and learning methodologies in the 21st century classroom. There are an enormous array of web 2.0 tools and resources available, but we do not need to jump right to the "point and click" conversation if educators (and educational leaders) are not on board understanding REASONS traditional teaching methods need to change as well as the pedaogogic assumptions which should undergird those methods and tools. These speaking points are included on the wiki curriculum for the presentation, Creating, Collaborating, and Blending Learning in the 21st Century Infoverse. I am including a link to that page in the podcast shownotes. These five reasons I discussed include ENGAGEMENT, RESEARCHED-BASED METHODS FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING / ACHIEVEMENT, DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING, AUDIENCE, and REAL WORLD SKILLS (21st century skills.) This podcast includes a musical shoutout to Eric Langhorst, the 2008 Missouri State Teacher of the Year. Give a listen and learn why I'm compelled to include the song "There's No Where Like Nebraska" as my musical transition in this episode.

Free classroom technology presentations this Saturday

2011-09-22T10:08:00.000-04:00

Below is information on "Day of Learning 3" from SimpleK12, which is an online training company. These 30 minute online webinars are free to attend live (online) at the times listed. Access to the recordings at a later date is not free. They are given by a variety of teachers, educational tech consultants, and SimpleK12 staff. I have attended sessions during a previous "day of learning" held by SimpleK12 and found some interesting.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: SimpleK12 Team
Date: Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 8:31 AM
Subject: Special Saturday "Day of Learning 3" Just For You

Looking for a FREE day of Teacher Professional Development? Look no further - we've planned a special Saturday "Day of Learning 3" just for you and all of the teachers at your school.

We're hosting this Day of Learning 3 on a Saturday so you can organize your own Professional Development day at school and bring teachers in to view these webinars as a group. Best of all, we've even planned time between sessions, and a break in the middle of the day, to allow teachers to work amongst themselves!

Be sure to let all the principals and teachers in your district know about this great FREE professional development event so they can enjoy an exciting day of learning too.

If your school doesn't pull together for the Day of Learning 3, you can still join in on the fun from home. Webinars are viewable from your home PC or even your iPad (with the free Citrix GoToMeeting App).

==============
All sessions are FREE
==============

Space is limited, so reserve your seat now before it's too late!

================================
Join SimpleK12 on Saturday, September 24th, 2011
================================

Here are the details...

Keynote: Own Your Classroom: The Business of 21st Century Teaching
Date: Saturday, September 24 from 9:00-9:30 AM Eastern Time, USA
Learn how to transform your classroom into a thriving environment of
information consumption and have fun along the way!
Register now. https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/806571138

Session 1: Jump Start Your Digital Footprint
Date: Saturday, September 24 from 10:00-10:30 AM Eastern Time, USA
Look at how to jump start your digital footprint and take control of it so that you can help establish your presence on the web and have something to be proud of.
Register now. https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/659667546

Session 2: Online Activities for Younger Students
Date: Saturday, September 24 from 11:00-11:30 AM Eastern Time, USA
Discover how to integrate the Internet into curriculum, as well as share some online resources, Internet inquiry units, and management ideas.
Register now. https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/672708290

Session 3: Twitter for Beginners: The Basics of Setting Up Your PLN
Date: Saturday, September 24 from 1:00- 1:30 PM Eastern Time, USA
Learn some of the basics of using Twitter as a component of your PLN, as well as share some resources and tips for using it to maximize learning and communication.
Register now. https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/941743522

Session 4: Google+ Guide for Educators
Date: Saturday, September 24 from 2:00- 2:30 PM Eastern Time, USA
Find out how to use Google+ for education and ways to include it in your classroom. Bring your own ideas as well, and be prepared to share them with the audience.
Register now. https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/825974498

Session 5: Keep Yourself Organized with LiveBinders
Date: Saturday, September 24 from 3:00-3:30 PM Eastern Time, USA
Get those binders off of your bookshelf and create a virtual space to store your favorite websites, documents, and videos where you can share them with your students and colleagues.
Register now. https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/588657002

Session 6: Organize and Share Your Favorite Sites with Diigo
Date: Saturday, September 24 from 4:00-4:30 PM Eastern Time, USA
Learn how to enjoy easily accessing your favorite sites from anywhere (computer, iPad, iPod, or phone), creating lists in groups, and even a teacher console - all for free!
Register now. https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/829828386

The first webinar begins at 9:00 AM Eastern Time, USA on September 24th!

We'll see you there!

The SimpleK12 Team
Twitter: @SimpleK12 or @TlC_edu

P.S. All of these webinars are free and open to the public,
so make sure to share this registration link with your friends!
http://simplek12.com/tlc/webinars

The Great Parenting Debate: Should School Kids Rely on Computers?

2010-12-23T11:48:00.000-05:00

This FoxNews.com article presents a variety of quotes from two sides of the one-to-one computing debate including comments by parents, educators, and corporate executives.

By John Brandon, Published December 21, 2010 | FoxNews.com:

As you consider whether to arm your child with a laptop computer or iPad this Christmas, consider also which battle line to stand behind, as the fighting grows over the increasing reliance on digital devices in the classroom.

Photo by Pia Waugh via Flickr

Survey solution for a student project?

2010-05-12T15:17:00.015-04:00

A seventh grade student just came to me looking to electronically administer a survey to about 150 students. My first thought was a Google Form. The problem is that about 10 of her questions require the respondent to look at an image and select a multiple-choice, text answer. As far as I can tell, Google Forms does not support an image in the question. (I did find a reference to people editing the HTML of the form and hosting it elsewhere, but that is overly complicated for this case as I want a solution the student can own.)

We have Blackboard's course management system, but you can not link directly into a Blackboard survey (or even a particular course) in our system. Emailing students directions to go to Blackboard, login, select a specific course, and go to a particular survey are enough hurdles that many students probably won't bother to fill out this optional survey. The student doing the project would like to just send her prospective respondents a link, which seems the wise choice to me.

So the best solution I came up with so far is to use a Google Sites web page with an embedded Google Form. The Sites page will contain the 10 images in a 2 x 5 table at the top of the page. Each image will be labeled with a number:

Picture 1

The questions will then say something like "Identify the bird in Picture 1." If the embedded form is sized properly, I believe the images can stay on the screen while the survey requires scrolling through the questions.

What do you think?
I would be happy to hear suggestions for a different solution that would allow the image to be located right in the question. Please post a comment, reply via Twitter, or email me via campbb at d-e.org if you have a suggestion.

HotW: Interview with William Kist, author of The Socially Networked Classroom

2010-05-10T17:22:00.013-04:00

The book The Socially Networked Classroom by William Kist was recently been brought to my attention via a recommendation by Steve Hargadon. As my potential reading list outweighs my reading time, I plan to read the couple of chapters available via Google Books and listen to this intervie w with the author, which I can do during "down time" in the car, before I decide to buy it. (If there were an audio book, I would have probably already made that purchase.)

According to the forward, the book "asks us if the social interactivity of the Web -- Web 2.0 -- has transformed the way we 'do' school and then shows us, with care and specificity, the way to transform our schools."

So far, it looks promising.

This MP3 has been published by Steve Hargadon and/or Elluminate so they retain the rights to the recording, which appears to be All Rights Reserved due to a lack of any indication otherwise. I make no claim to the rights to use this file, am only linking to it, and will take down the link if asked to do so by the owner of the recording.

HotW: PBS/Frontline Digital Nation discussion

2010-04-04T22:00:00.001-04:00

Heard on the Web: I'm adding the audio recording of the Digital Nation Classroom 2.0 Live discussion to my listening to do list. In addition to the hosts, it includes special guests Sandy St. Louis, Ramona Pringle, and Kim Flack.

Image via Wikipedia

I found the Frontline Digital Nation documentary interesting to the point that I shared it with one of my students as part of an independent project and am thinking about doing something related to the program with the rest of my class especially with regard to the multitasking segment. However, I've not really discussed the program with other teachers so I've been interested to hear other opinions about the research presented especially after hearing negative comments over lunch at TEDxNYED by two of the speakers. (Unfortunately, I didn't have time to ask them to elaborate.)

This MP3 has been published by Classroom 2.0 Live, which retains the rights to the recording. I make no claim to the right to use this file, am only linking to it, and will take down the link if asked to do so by the owner of the recording. You can subscribe to Classroom 2.0 Live in iTunesU by searching for it in the iTunes store.

Interview with Dan Pink about his book Drive and the educational implications

2010-04-01T12:20:00.017-04:00

For a year or so, I have been using the Delicious social bookmarking service to create my own "custom podcast" of recordings I want to listen to. Basically, I have a Delicious tag dedicated to this, and I download my custom podcast in iTunes by subscribing to the RSS feed of the tag. (If anyone would like less technical directions on how do this, let me know.)

This Delicious list was my alternative to subscribing to the entire set of episodes for each show/series, which I used to do, because I found that I never end up listening to more than a small portion of what I downloaded. Therefore, I used this custom podcast via Delicious to pick out only selected episodes that grabbed my interest at the time.

(Update, 1/30/2012: Unfortunately, Delicious no longer seems to support including enclosures such as mp3 files in the RSS feed it generates. Therefore, the method I mentioned above to create your own podcast feed using Delicious no longer works. If someone know a similar alternative, please let me know!)

As an experimental next step, I've decided to start publishing my custom podcast list through this blog instead so I can more easily link back to the original source and, at times, elaborate on the subject of the recordings or link to related information.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Cover via Amazon

I'm starting with this recorded interview of Dan Pink discussing his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.

Dan was interviewed by Steve Hargadon on February 17, 2010 as part of his Future of Education series of interviews. More information about the interview from Steve is available on his blog.

This MP3 has been published by Steve Hargadon and/or Elluminate so they retain the rights to the recording, which appears to be All Rights Reserved due to a lack of any indication otherwise. I make no claim to the rights to use this file, am only linking to it, and will take down the link if asked to do so by the owner of the recording.

What does "good enough" mean for a one-to-one program?

2009-08-27T09:45:00.003-04:00

Pat Woessner, a middle-school instructional technologist at MICDS, which seems like a school with which we at D-E have some similarities, echoed an interesting idea from an article in Wired Magazine. (By the way, MICDS also has a one-to-one tablet computer program.) In Pat's latest blog post, which you can read here, he said that the "crapification of everything IS an improvement" and schools should embrace that. Before you get crazy by reading this idea out of context, note that he was talking about hardware and software technology tools and the point is that while many of the cheap or free online tools currently available might not be the "best of breed" they can still be powerfull with regard to educating students. In fact, simplicity may make them more valuable. (The post is short so you can read it yourself and not take my word on it.)

This is definite food for thought for schools with one-to-one programs, especially tablet PC programs since tablets are generally more expensive that standard laptops. While we definitely have some classes where not having ink would be a loss, those courses might be in the minority at the moment. Netbooks are worth some thought as the draw of an almost disposable computer is strong. It would be easier to keep computing ubiquitous and reliable for every student in every classroom if the majority of hardware repairs required only a hard drive swap into a new replacement and we could quickly send students back out the door without dealing with insurance, parts ordering, and loaner pool management.

Many people who have used Netbooks say they don't run high-powered applications well. For example, is video editing and production viable on a Netbook? I don't yet have the Netbook experience to answer this question but my gut feeling is no (as the technology stands today). Of course, hardware performance will increase faster than cost as it always does with computer technology so maybe this problem will be elminated sooner than we think.

The flip side of trading tablets for netbooks is that even if you think our current use of tablet ink by students is expendable, should we radically change a program only based on current use. As with any program, it evolves over time.

Does pen input by students provide potential for improving student learning that still needs to be further developed?
Should efforts that might go toward making this hardware platform change instead go toward professional development and possibly obtaining better tools to make ink use more powerful?
If we shut the door on ink by eliminating pen input or causing it not to be umbiqutious, will we miss valuable opportunites?

I honestly don't know at this point but am interested in hearing from others on the topic so if you are reading this, please post a comment.

How to keep those old electronic grade books

2009-08-18T11:31:00.005-04:00

As we are about to start the new school year with a new student information system, the old teacher grade book software, InteGrade, which we previously used will no longer be available. This caused a good question to be raised by member of the faculty:

A thought just occurred to me as both a teacher and former department chair.

Seeing as though there is no longer going to be use of Integrade, it may seem that we no longer need the program application around. However I have my own Integrade files over the years as a teacher, and as a former department chair who kept department faculty's files each marking period. If I delete the program application, ALL THOSE FILES Become unreadable (data rot). Is there something in place as a school, so that if the need arises, we can access the information in those file in future years?

There seems to be no conversion option for Integrade files. In other words -- are we going to keep at least one turntable around in order to play the record albums in the future?

I posted my response here for others with the same question:

We no longer have the rights to use InteGrade and there is no plan to keep it around somewhere for the purpose you mention. This is a common problem with all electronic data and the best practice for dealing with this problem in general is to save the data for later viewing in a common format. In this case, I recommend that you print the appropriate InteGrade reports for record keeping purposes to a PDF file. Primo PDF, which we have supplied on your tablet, will work well for this purpose.

In some cases, PDF files are better than the original proprietary application data because most hard drive search tools or uploading files to services such as Evernote will allow you to search them all en mass. (While Google Docs lets you upload PDFs, it doesn't currently appear to let you search them all at once. Bummer.) The version of PrimoPDF I just tested (4.0) does create searchable PDFs. If your tablet has an older version that does not create searchable PDFs, you can download the latest version for free at primopdf.com. (I don't remember when Primo added this feature but I believe it was a few years ago.)

All that said, InteGrade does not need to be "installed" in order to use it. If you copy the InteGrade program folder currently on your tablet to a CD and stick it on a shelf, you could copy it back onto your computer at a later date if necessary and it should run. (It might even run directly off of the CD.) Of course, this assumes in the future that you are using a computer and operating system that InteGrade would still work under, which is not a certainty as technology evolves. This is another reason why common file formats like PDF are good for archiving.

Why is social media relevant to education?

2009-07-28T08:38:00.009-04:00

This 17 minute (TED) presentation by Clay Shirky recorded at the State Department in D.C. last month seems a compelling explanation of why social media is relevant and important in the 21st century. If it is important to society than it should be relevant to teaching.

(You can also watch it with subtitles at the TED site.)

Shirky claims and supports that we are currently living during the "largest increase in expressive capability in human history".

He says social media makes the Internet the next media revolution because it's global, social, ubiquitous and cheap. The other four periods in the last 500 years that qualify as a "revolution" were during the creation of the printing press, telegraph and telephone, recorded media (other than print), and radio/tv broadcasting.

I also particularly like this quote from Shirky: "These tools don't get socially interesting until they get technologically boring." While he is specifically talking about social media, I think this generally applies to effective use of technology tools in education. It's not about the tools. It is about how they are used.

Thanks to Wesley Fryer for bringing this to my attention via his blog post.

Google Earth resources for teaching Earth Science and more

2009-06-21T21:35:00.008-04:00

I was recently asked by a science teacher for resources she could use to independently learn about Google Earth. While I have in no way come close to conducting an exhaustive search, here are a few resources that seem useful. They are pages I bookmarked mostly after finding them via Twitter or blog posts so I offer thanks to those who publicly share information.
Overview and Introduction:

Google Earth overview ISTE webinar (duration: one hour)
This is an archive of the online webinar titled Google Earth Lessons in the Classroom, which includes audio and slides, published by ISTE. Dr. Alice Christie presented this overview of using GE with students on October 29, 2008. It is available for free to Dwight-Englewood staff via the Blackboard A Teacher's Toolbox course under Learning Unleashed > ISTE Webinar archives. A more detailed description and information for others to purchase this archive are available here.

Recording of a hands-on introduction to Google Earth (duration: one hour)
This is session one of an online, hands-on workshop led by Thomas Cooper on 2/9/09 as part of the Powerful Learning Practice program. You can follow along with if you run Google Earth while watching. The session includes information on the Oceans component. Here is a description copied from the PLP newsletter:
"Google Earth can be integrated into almost any discipline. Students can use the tool to explore natural features, historical monuments and characteristics of cities. The greatest power of this tool lies in its ability to promote inquiry-based research and collaborative action."

Earth Science:

Designing and Creating Earth Science Lessons with Google Earth User Manual
Published in May 2007. Creation of this manual was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Other Subjects:

Google Earth has also been used by teachers of other subjects. For example. Google Lit Trips can be used to help students better understand a novel through familiarity of the geography of a book's various locales. Of course, contemporary and historical maps can be useful in multiple disciplines. I have not explored the sites below much, but they are a place to start if you are looking for more.

Google's Google Earth for Educators page
Published by Google and includes ideas for classroom use in multiple disciplines.

Google Workshop, Part 3: Google Earth at the Assorted Stuff blog
Includes links to tutorial videos and other sites with resources related to Google Earth.

I'd be grateful to hear feedback about the usefulness of any of these resource for the next time someone asks. Therefore, please add a comment to this blog post or email me at campbb AT d-e DOT org (if you have a comment you don't want to make publicly). Also, if you have another resource that you would recommended to teachers, please add it via a comment.

Interested in an interschool, middle-school collaborative project?

2009-03-06T08:25:00.004-05:00

The primary audience for this post is teachers and technology facilitators who might be interested in partnering on a Middle-School/Junior High joint English and Social Studies project in April 2009.

Seventh grade students at Dwight-Englewood School are studying the way in which colonial powers divided up Africa and the lasting effects of these political divisions on the African people. I have been working with two creative seventh grade teachers on planning a project for this unit that would involve sharing information and collecting feedback from students at a different school. While the planning for this is still ongoing, here is what we currently have in mind.

D-E students (two sections working in groups) will be charged with creating an web-based lesson (probably using a wiki) to be completed by the students at the school we partner with. Our students will present maps of the continent of Africa showing various divisions such as cultural boundaries, population, natural resource, etc. Each of our student project groups will also create pages of related content resulting from research on various aspects of the topic such has the specific effect caused by each of the European colonial powers involved.

Your students would be asked to use a web browser to read and comment on this content, which would probably include a guiding question to answer for each content section. At the conclusion of the lesson your students would be asked to reflect on this information and synthesize a response answering how they think Africa should be politically divided including annotating a map of Africa as part of the response. (There is no single correct answer to this question.) After the lesson is completed by your students, ours may do the same final exercise and share the results with your students.

Our students' goal would be to create a lesson that could be completed by your students in one class period assuming each of your students or groups of students working together have access to an Internet connected computer. D-E teachers will help guide
our students to stick with that length, but of course, seventh graders who have little previous experience creating lessons will be doing this so that won't be perfect.

The tools to be used for this have not been completely decided yet, but here are some of my initial thoughts:

Content will be created, viewed, and commented on using a wiki. I've had some recent, positive experiences with pbwiki so that will be the first one I checkout to see if it can meet the needs with regard to content security and user management.
Your student responses could be through wiki comments. However, there is some interest in providing the option of allowing audio comments to be left by using a tool such as VoiceThread. This might be particularly useful in providing a place for answering the final question that asks your students to annotate a map as VoiceThread allows commenting (text, audio, or video) combined with drawing on an image. We do not have experience using VoiceThread with students yet, and I have not worked on the details nor potential difficulties related to your students possibly needing to register and login to VoiceThread in order to comment so that complication may prevent its use.

As I can work out the technology tool details later, our first priority is confirming we have a partner school so we know this will be a viable project to be started very soon. Therefore, if you are interested in having students at your school participate in this project, please contact me (Bill Campbell) as soon as possible via email (campbb "at" d-e.org), Twitter (@BillCamp), or by commenting on this post (and including contact information in your comment).

Update 3/12/09:
I realize that I forgot to add that if you partner with us and would like our students to provide feedback on something your students create, we would be happy to do so. (Two classes at D-E are doing this project.)

Also, for those of you interested in the book Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, I'm reading chapter 5 now, and I realized that the project we are proposing seems related to student-created, instructional content delivered through a "facilitated user network" as described in that chapter.

Update 4/2/09:
We will be using PBwiki to publish content and partner school students will respond via wiki comments. (Still investigating VoiceThread for final question.) Student research on the topic is already under way, and we will introduce the wiki to our student publishers on Monday.

I still don't have a firm commitment from a partner school so if you are interested, please contact me.

Vicarious NAIS conference participation

2009-03-05T11:18:00.002-05:00

As someone who uses Twitter to keep on eye on what others interested in education, technology, or both are talking about, I discovered that some of the 2009 National Association of Independent Schools annual conference attendees were sharing the proceedings through blogs and social networking tools such as Twitter. As a result, I've now had a small glimpse of the conference through the eyes of those others who were gracious enough to share. Since I found some of my vicarious conference participation on Thursday and Friday worthwhile, I'd like to share some of the resources for others who might be interested.

Jason Ramsden (@raventech) and Sarah Hanawald (@sarahhanawald) encouraged live online conversation and blogged notes using the Cover It Live tool during the following presentations. (Click on the name of the blogger to access the notes. Sessions with two bloggers listed have separate notes from each.)

Sarah: Setting a Course for IT Success
Sarah: Revitalizing the Veteran Teacher with Peter Gow
Sarah and Jason: Opening General Session with Dan Heath, author of Made to Stick, Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Sarah: Creating Artists of Learning with Mary Cullinane
Sarah and Jason: Michelle Rhee on Reforming Education
Jason: Michael Thompson on The Impact of Technology on the Lives of Boys
Sarah and Jason: Guy Kawasaki on The Art of Innovation
Sarah and Jason: Closing Session with Oprah Winfrey

As you read through the recording of the Cover It Live session, you may notice comments marked with a Twitter symbol and some may seem like a non sequitur. Those comments automatically appear in the blog session because the author thought that Twitter posts from selected authors or on specific topics might be germane and, therefore, interesting to those viewing the live blogging session. This relates to the next resource.

Instead of creating a live blogging session dedicated to a particular presentation, many other conference attendees used Twitter to post short messages or quotes of interest while attending presentations. Many people who posted messages to Twitter before, during, and after the conference marked these messages with the keyword #nais09 (called a hash tag). That made it easy for people using Twitter during the conference (whether actually there or not) to follow some of the activities. You can see a list of all of the Twitter posts tagged with that keyword using Twitter's search tool. The entries are listed in reverse chronological order, and people continue make Twitter "micro-blog" posts tagged with that keyword as they write related articles after the conference. This is how I discovered most of the content about the proceedings. (If you are really bored, you can scroll through the that list of twitter posts and find the announcement I recently made about for this blog post.)

If you have read this far, you might be short on time, but you can quickly read some of the best conference quotes and highlights that were posted to Twitter according to Liz B. Davis (@lizbdavis) in her blog post Gr8T Quotes from #NAIS09.

Thank you to Jason, Sarah, Liz, and everyone else who shared the conference live via the web!

For those who prefer more depth and less conversation, there were also three official conference bloggers:

Jonathan Martin (head-elect, St. Gregory College Prep, AZ)
KaTrina Wentzel (Mounds Park Academy, MN)
Michael Obel-Omia (The University School, OH)

While I have not had the opportunity to explore all of their work, I did find Jonathan Martin's post "NAIS: Nine Highlights, Takeways, & Observations on Oprah, Rhee, Thompson, 21st. c. Learning, Chicago, and More" interesting. Jonathan (@JonathanEMartin) also seemed to be a prolific user of Twitter during the conference so I believe he has included the input of others in his writings.

This experience provided me an interesting example of how blogging and social networking can connect people to a traditional conference when people actually in attendance are willing to share. This is good news for us life-long learners who don't necessarily have the time or other resources to traditionally participate in theses events.

As I find other web resources of interest specifically related to the 2009 NAIS Annual Conference, I will post them under the nais09 tag of my delicious bookmarks, which you can access by clicking here.

Do students really know how to read online?

2008-09-22T09:15:00.004-04:00

The following quote from the weblog of Will Richardson, an advocate for the use of communication technologies in education, caught my attention:

[Online reading] is one of those areas where the kids are doing it already and the educators in the room don’t have much to go on in terms of what the differences are or any substantial practical experience. Federman makes the point that when new technologies enter the classroom, teachers see change. Students, on the other hand, see the status quo.

In his post, Richardson discusses the article "Online Literacy is a Lesser Kind: Slow reading counterbalances Web skimming" by Mark Federman. Richardson also admits that without an intentional, personal effort to read longer texts more often, increased effort was necessary "to do sustained reading and thinking [and] to stick with complex narratives."

Online literacy is necessary in our current world and in the future. Obviously, continuing to require long texts as part of academic work continues to provide students the opportunity to learn and practice the related traditional but important literacy skills.

So a question hanging out there seems to be what can teachers and parents do in order to help children transfer some of those skills to online reading and, therefore, further practice those skills?

P.S. I have no answer. However, I wonder if something like the recently released 39 Clues book series from Scholastic would help (at least for younger students) or is it just creative marketing. I haven't seen a novel from the series (but probably will since my son would like it), but it appears to promote some sort of bridge between offline and online reading, (Also, seems to bridge the trading card frenzy familiar to anyone with elementary aged boys.)

Research report says one-to-one computing and use of online assessment is on the rise

2008-07-07T00:16:00.004-04:00

A May 2008 article in eSchool News reports that researchers surveyed about 400 school administrators between April and September 2007. This resulted in the 2008 America's Digital Schools report by Thomas W. Greaves of The Greaves Group and Jeanne Hayes of The Hayes Connection.

Here are some of the findings and related quotes:

The quantity and quality of one-to-one computing programs has increased since 2006.
- "one-to-one computing is not a fad, but has lasting efficacy"
- "one-to-one computing can only be successful through teacher ownership"

Online formative assessment is a trend on the rise.
- "The use of … online assessment … suggests a real improvement in using tests to help students learn what they don't know, rather than beat them over the head- after the fact--about what they don't know."
- "The only major inhibitor to online assessment, according to survey respondents, is the lack of suitable student devices with which to take the exams."

Interactive whiteboards (such as SmartBoards) are now viewed as "standard equipment".
- "The report predicts that [interactive whiteboards] will be in nearly every school five years from now."

While use of learning management software (such as Blackboard or Moodle) has increased, its full potential has not be realized.
- "Schools frequently take less than full advantage of the available applications."

Internet bandwidth "remains in a state of crisis".
- "The average amount of bandwidth needed per student has climbed some 123 percent from year to year."
- "Two-thirds of those polled say they have implemented a policy to restrict the use of certain applications in order to conserve bandwidth--including banning streaming video."

Learning to Change video

2008-05-15T10:59:00.004-04:00

Thanks to twitter and Arvind Grover (NYC independent school ed-tech director), I just came across the five minute video "Learning to Change" via his blog 21apples. It is a professionally produced compilation of video comments on technology in education from multiple people including Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind.

The notion of students being part of a community larger than just their school and using that as part of their education is promoted. With that in mind, the following quote from the video interests me in particular:

"You start with the teacher. If I want my students to be making global connections, then I'm going to give the tools to my teachers first and provide them with opportunities to connect with other teachers around the world or other teachers around the country."

That reinforces the notion that teachers need to get connected beyond their school and be provided the technical resources (time, tools, and training) to do that. While some teachers have been doing something like that with an email listserve for years, there are a bunch of newer tools out there that might be more effective and definitely are more appealing to students. Kids are already using some of these for non-school work. Why not leverage their existing skills and interest to further their education and foster a passion for life-long learning?

To read comments about the video (or to add one yourself), check out the YouTube page.

If anyone at D-E has enough interest to spend some time on this, but needs a little help to get started, let me know!

Motivate writers via blogging

2008-04-05T17:06:00.020-04:00

During the conversation at our last Teachers and Tablets meeting, Fred our English department chair made a the statement that writing submitted just to the teacher is practice. That and the rest of the conversation concerning writing, one-to-one computing, and chapter four of Mark Warschauer's book Laptops And Literacy: Learning in the Wireless Classroom gave me an idea on how a weblog might be used with writing.

Whether the main purpose of the assignment is to develop a particular kind of writing (i.e. persuasion) or to practice writing in order to more deeply understand a particular topic (i. e. a historical event or work of literature) this activity seems like it might be useful for high-school or possibly middle-school students.

What I propose is that a class blog be setup such that every student in the class have the ability to post an entry as opposed to just a comment. (The Upper-School Reading Team and MS book review blogs are examples at D-E.) Students would then be assigned to go out and find a piece of writing on the Internet (another blog would allow trackbacks, defined below) that raises an opinion on a topic.

If the purpose of the lesson is to practice a particular kind of writing such as persuasion then students could be allowed to find something expressing an opinion different from theirs on any topic in which they have a strong interest. Otherwise, students could assigned a particular topic. In some cases, it might make senses for the teacher to identify a collection of sites or weblogs that focus on the a particular topic being studied. Some search engines that specialize in searching weblogs, which could be used by either a teacher setting up a lesson or by students searching themselves include Technorati, Google Blogsearch, and others.

After finding something appropriate to read and respond to, each student would then post a reply on the class blog to what they read. This reply would be done as a "trackback" comment to the original post. A trackback shows up as a comment to the original post (if this feature is supported by both blogs). Its function is to promote communication between blogs. An except of the post would appear on the original blog as a comment with a link back to the students post on the class blog. (If the automatic trackback isn't supported, a student could just manually post an excerpt with a link to the full post.) This post on TabletTails is an example of using this procedure to comment on a Teachers and Tablets post.

This assignment could have the following advantages:

Students need to evaluate the writing and credibility of an outsider whom they can't assume is an expert.
Students have to critically read to prepare for writing.
Students' writing has the potential to be directed to a particular audience besides the teacher.
Students have the opportunity to be motivated by the chance of their writing being read by an outside audience.
The opportunity for authentic feedback on the topic is possible through the original writer seeing the comment and responding.

If any teacher at D-E is interested in pursuing this, please let me know. We have already have the software available, and I am happy to discuss it further or help you get started.

By the way, if you checkout the Teachers and Tablets webblog, don't let the label "Listen to podcast of article", which refers to the audio files mislead you. The audio recordings are not the text of the blog posts. Sometimes the discussions are closely related to the text of the blog posts, and sometimes the conversations wander from what is written. However, they have all been very good so if you have some interest in one-to-one computing and literacy, give a listen, and post your reaction as a comment to the blog.

Review of some literature on 1:1 computing and teacher PD

2008-03-25T10:56:00.005-04:00

In order for a one-to-one computer initiative or almost any use of technology in the classroom to be effective, teachers need more than the just the equipment. Any professional development related to technology has been shown to be better than none. While reporting on an Educational Testing Service (ETS) study that looked at the mathematics scores of fourth- and eighth-graders on the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Archer (1998) writes that the students of teachers who had experienced any technology training scored better than those of teachers with no technology training. However, exclusively skills-based training for teachers provides a limited benefit that may not justify the expense of ubiquitous educational technology. In a two-year, ethnographic perspective study of three middle school teachers at a school with a one-to-one laptop program, Windschitl and Sahl (2002) conclude that:

Professional development opportunities should not focus exclusively on skills with computers. Rather, technology use should be more thoughtfully considered within the context of teachers' beliefs about what constitutes effective teaching and how technology and information access can alter the traditional roles of teachers and students in the classroom. (p. 202)

In addition, Knowlton and Weiss state "when faculty attempt to enhance their courses with technology but do not consider pedagogy, they are usually disappointed with the results" (Knowlton & Weiss, 2000 in Murphy et al., 2007, p. 71).
With regard to the classroom roles of teachers and students, Windschitl and Sahl (2002, p. 169) also report that current research indicates some teachers increase the use of student-centered classroom pedagogies over time in conjunction with the use of technology.¹ However, Moersch (2002) points out that while studies such as Becker and Ravitz (1999) found that teachers' pedagogical beliefs and actions were very much affected by substantial use of technology in the classroom, "the question remains, were those teachers most affected by technology use already inclined toward a constructivist approach in the classroom or were the technology and the teachers' abilities to use different applications the causal variables that changed their pedagogical style from a nonconstructivist approach to a learner-centered, experiential paradigm?" (p. 30).
The issue of technology access for all teachers and students can be addressed by a one-to-one computing program. However, Windschitl and Sahl found that the mere existence of a one-to-one program did not initiate an increase in the use of constructivist pedagogy among the teachers studied. In fact, "the availability of technology was neither a necessary nor sufficient condition to affect pedagogy" (Windschitl & Sahl, 2002, pp. 201-202). Yet, in both the Windschitl and Sahl study and in the Becker and Ravitz study, the researchers found that pervasive technology was a catalyst that enabled teachers already dissatisfied with teacher-centered methods or who were already constructivist-oriented to implement more practices consistent with their teaching philosophy than were possible before the existence of pervasive technology (Windschitl & Sahl, 2002; Becker & Ravitz, 1999). Data collected shows that teachers whose instructional practice has moved in a constructivist-oriented direction are the same teaches who have thoroughly employed computers in instruction among schools where other arguably necessary factors exist: frequent discussion about reform, a social network that informs and encourages the implementation of instructional change, and a relatively technologically rich environment (Becker & Ravitz, 1999, pp. 380-381).
Even though research shows a clear connection between instructional technology use and constructivist or student-centered teaching methods, why are student-centered pedagogies that require students to use higher-order thinking and practice solving problems in a practical context important? To make room for more student-centered teaching is this pedagogical change worth a reduction in the time allocated to knowledge-transmission oriented methods and teacher-centered methods? The skills required by future workers in the 21st century work force are "the need to analyze information, make decisions, and solve problems" according to The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report conducted by the U. S. Department of Commerce in 1991 (Moersch, 2002, pp. 22-23). Moersch also writes that several commissioned reports during the 1990s recommend that curriculum focus on the skills typically associated with constructivist pedagogies to meet those requirements.
The value of constructivist pedagogy is not a new idea even though it has gained new attention in the context of 21st century skills and teaching with technology. A prominent constructivist, Ernst von Glasersfeld has traced the cognitive construction theory back to a Neapolitan philosopher Giambattista Vico who discusses the idea in a 1710 treatise, where he states that one knows a thing only when one can explain it (Yager, 1991). That idea resonates with any teacher who remembers the level of understanding he or she attained after teaching a particular subject. This understanding often surpasses what that teacher learned while studying the subject as a pre-service student. More recently, Moersch reports that Ryan in 1990, Hopson in 1998, and Lin Hsiao in 1998 found significant improvement in student academic achievement "in classrooms where self-regulated learning was encouraged, higher-order thinking strategies were promoted, and guided discovery learning was nurtured" (Moersch, 2002, p. 53).
Even through the lens of test scores, there is evidence of the benefit of good instructional computer use such as when it promotes higher-order thinking. In reporting the findings of the ETS report by Harold Wenglinsky, which examined math scores from the 1996 NAEP, Archer (1998) states that eighth-graders whose teachers used computers in ways associated with higher-order thinking such as "simulations and applications" scored higher than students whose teachers did not use computers for instruction. Conversely, eighth-graders whose instructional computer use was primarily for "drill and practice" actually scored lower. "What we do know for certain," [Wenglinsky] says, "is that when teachers use the computer to teach higher-order thinking skills, students benefit" (Archer, 1998, Despite his findings section, para. 9).
Back in the context of one-to-one computing, Wambach (2006) quotes Gary Stager, a one-to-one computing advocate: "The success of a one-to-one computing program is in its application" (p. 59).

¹On page 166 of Tracing Teachers' Use of Technology in a Laptop Computer School: The Interplay of Teacher Beliefs, Social Dynamics, and Institutional Culture (2002), Windschitl and Sahl cite the following research reports as suggesting a correlation between technology use and the move of teachers toward constructivist pedagogy: Becker and Ravitz (1999), Means (1994), and Mehlinger (1996).

References

Archer, J. (1998, October 1). The link to higher scores (Technology counts '98: Putting school technology to the test). Technology in Schools Supplement to Education Week, 18(5), 10. Retrieved 12 January 2008, from Professional Development Collection database.

Becker, H. J., & Ravitz, J. (1999, Summer). The influence of computer and Internet use on teacher's pedagogical practices and perceptions. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 31(4), 356-384.

Moersch, C. (2002). Beyond hardware: Using existing technology to promote higher-level thinking. Eugene, OR: International Society of Technology in Education.

Murphy, D. M., King, F. B., & Brown, S. W. (2007). Laptop Initiative Impact: Assessed Using Student, Parent, and Teacher Data. Computers in the Schools, 24(1/2), 57-73.

Wambach, C. (2006, September). From Revolutionary to Evolutionary: 10 years of 1-to-1 Computing. T.H.E. Journal, 33(14), 58-59.

Windschitl, M., & Sahl, K. (2002, Spring). Tracing Teachers' Use of Technology in a Laptop Computer School: The Interplay of Teacher Beliefs, Social Dynamics, and Institutional Culture. American Educational Research Journal, 39(1), 165-205.

Yager, R. E. (1991, September). The constructivist learning model. The Science Teacher, 58(6), 52-57.

I wrote this in January as part of a research proposal focusing on teacher profesional development in a one-to-one program.

Reading and writing for an audience

2008-02-27T14:20:00.007-05:00

The discussion of a common reading experience for all students and faculty in the upper-school (grades 9-12) and the recent article adopted by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) with regard to 21st century literacies raises an idea that is not necessarily original but also not something going on yet at D-E as far as I know.

Update on 3/3/07: I'm pleased to report that my statement above was incorrect. D-E's first experiment with student blogging started in our Middle School in early February with the Umpleby Independent Reading Book Review Site. The blog was setup for a similar purpose to what I am suggesting except that students read and wrote about a variety of books rather then a common reading experience.

While I would prefer this comment to come from a full-time classroom teacher and not me (as some people see me as having a "techie" agenda), here it is anyway rather than risk the idea not occurring to others who might support it.

It is worth kicking around the thought of encouraging or at least providing a place for students and faculty to publically share thoughts on the book that is chosen while it is being read or shortly after finishing it. Doing this in the one-shot, adult-lead discussion group fashion like has been done in Community of Readers has value. However, an asynchronous opportunity to write might appeal to different students (and maybe faculty) in different ways and might also prolong the conversation.

One way to do this that has seen increasing use in schools nationally and internationally is through a web log (blog). (What you are reading now is a blog although it is not a good example of what I'm suggesting.)

Teachers or students can write "journal" entries that anyone on the Internet can read and comment on. (For example, you can click on Comments or Post a Comment at the bottom of this blog article to write your reaction on what I'm saying.) In addition to the obvious benefit of just encouraging students to write, posting articles publically can give some students extra incentive because they consider the audience more authentic than writing just for their teachers. In some cases, others outside of the school who have also studied or have experience with the work (including professionals and sometimes even writers) have commented on students writing presented this way and that could be quite a motivating factor for students to continue to write.

While we could also do this with a Blackboard discussion group, it would not have the public access that has the potential to make a positive difference in some students interest and engagement in writing about what they are reading.

That fact that the Executive Committee of the NCTE adopted a statement on February 15 that includes using communication technologies as an essential skill for twenty-first century readers and writers is also interesting and relevant. (Will Richardson, a prolific educational blogger, writes more about this NCTE statement and literacy at the blog Weblogg-ed.)

Writing scores increase for one-to-one laptop students

2008-02-11T20:43:00.001-05:00

A recent article in eSchool News directed my attention to an October 2007 research report on the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI). The MLTI is a one-to-one laptop program started in 2002 by the state of Maine. The program provides laptop computers to all seventh and eighth grade students attending public schools and their teachers. In addition to the computers being available to students in school, each student has access to the laptop at home on nights, weekends, and breaks during the academic year.

The report titled Maine's Middle School Laptop Program: Creating Better Writers (available here) describes quantitative results indicating that the MLTI program has improved middle school students' writing.

The study compares the results of the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) writing scores from 2000, which is the year before MLTI began, and 2005 for all eighth graders statewide. Results show a statistically significant improvement in the 2005 scores -- an average student in 2005 scored better than about two-thirds of all students who took the test in 2000. With regards to scores indicating student proficiency in writing, 41.4% of eighth graders reached that standard on the MEA in 2005, which is up from 29.1% of eighth graders who took the test in 2000.

Also, the researchers examined the 2005 writing scores against an independent variable measuring the level of use of the laptop in the writing process as reported by students. This analysis found significantly higher scores from students using a laptop more fully in the writing process such as for writing drafts and the final copy as opposed students who used the laptop for only part of the process or not at all. With regard to comparing the extremes, the average "Best Use Group" student scored higher than 75% of the "No Use Group" students. Writing proficiency as measured by the MEA scores was achieved by 43.7% of the students in the Best Use group and 21% of the students in the No Use group.

Here are a few other items from the report that I found interesting:

Many people debate the merit of using standardized tests, which are often more about recalling knowledge than demonstrating skill or high-order thinking, to measure the learning that is important for students growing up in the 21st century. However, the researchers make a good point that the MEA writing test used for this study actually uses writing samples from students and is scored in a double-blind fashion.
It is difficult to attribute the increase in writing proficiency to one-to-one laptop use because may other contributing variables could be present in any particular school. However, the report points out that the results are likely to be due to the laptop program, at least in part, because the increase in proficiency scores occurred across the total population of eighth graders in all Maine middle schools where other contributing variables are less likely to be a constant in all schools.
Writing for students who had used laptops improved regardless of whether they were tested by producing a writing sample on computer or with paper and pencil. Therefore, it seems the students became better writers in general as opposed to just when they have to produce on word processor.
It is noted that teacher professional development related to integrating technology into curriculum and practices, and teachers helping students learn how to use a laptop as a writing tool were a necessary condition for success.

If any of this interests you whether you agree or not, I suggest reading the report. The main content is about 9 pages long (including figures and tables).

Constructivist classroom procedures

2008-01-19T23:10:00.001-05:00

Well, I did not meet my goal with regard to participating in and possibly drawing others at D-E into the K12 Online Conference as I proposed in my previous post. However, I still think the conference is a resource with potential so I'm going to keep it in mind.

Anyway, what I have been doing is a lot of reading of research articles related to using computers in the classroom, one-to-one computing, and constructivist pedagogy. When I started my review of literature for a research proposal related to one-to-one computing and faculty professional development, I didn't expect to find a lot. I was pleasantly surprised (and occasionally overwhelmed) by what I did find. While every useful article and research study I've read does not specifically deal with one-to-one computing, I've learned that articles on constructivism and, of course, use of computer technology in classrooms with more students than computers also have a lot to offer on this subject

Since teachers who practice constructivist pedagogy or tend toward establishing a student-centered classroom seem to be the most successful with using computers in a a one-to-one environment, I've become interested in trying to finding ways to help faculty move in that direction. I don't have any magical answers, but here are some techniques consistent with the constructivist learning model that are worth keeping in mind:

Seeking out and using student questions and ideas to guide lessons and whole instructional units;
Accepting and encouraging student initiation of ideas;
Promoting student leadership, collaboration, location of information, and taking actions as a result of the learning process;
Encouraging the use of alternative sources for information both from written materials and experts;
Using open-ended questions and encouraging students to elaborate on their questions and their responses;
Encouraging students to suggest causes for events and situations, and encouraging them to predict consequences;
Seeking out student ideas before presenting teacher ideas or before studying ideas from textbooks or other sources;
Encouraging students to challenge each other's conceptualizations and ideas;
Using cooperative learning strategies that emphasize collaboration, respect individuality, and use division of labor tactics; and
Encouraging self-analysis, collection of real evidence to support ideas, and reformulations of ideas in light of new experiences and evidence.

These are all quoted from Robert Yager (a professor of science education at the University of Iowa in 1991) originally published in a 1991 article specifically talking about science education. The article may seem a little old to some and was not written about using computers in classrooms, but the statements are relevant now and to more than just a science classroom. The article contains more techniques than I listed. I included the ones I believe are most relevant to my local colleagues in all academic disciplines.

While going through the history of those who have written about cognitive construction, Yager raises one point I particularly like. He says of Giambattista Vico, a philosopher who wrote a treatise on the theory in 1710: "[Vico] substantiates this notion by arguing that one knows a thing only when one can explain it."

All good teachers know that to be true even if they struggle with how to provide students that opportunity in the classroom while still working within the perceived and real constraints of time, meeting standards, and covering subject specific curriculum.

Reminding ourselves how much we have learned about our subject from teaching it, should encourage all of us to find ways to bring at least some constructivist techniques into the classroom.

References:

Yager, R. E. (1991, September). The constructivist learning model. The Science Teacher, 58(6), 52-57. (Get from ProQuest)

Yager, R. E. (2000, January). The constructivist learning model. The Science Teacher, 67(1), 44-45. (Get from ProQuest)

(Excerpts from the 1991 article were republished as the 2000 article.)

The "Get from ProQuest" link should work if you are on-campus at D-E or first access the D-E library databases web page from home. If you are not a member of the D-E community, the links might still work if you have access to a ProQuest research database.

What is this blog? and K12 Online Conference

2007-10-15T18:07:00.000-04:00

Ok, the title and description of this blog doesn't always hit the mark with regard to the content here. When I have enough content that I can look at it and say, hey here's my purpose, I'll change the description. So for now, I'll just charge ahead . . .

The 2007 K12 Online Conference has started. I had heard about this conference last year but did not really dive into it mostly because when I'm sitting in front of a computer, I usually have a specific purpose or task to complete. Since I sit in front of a computer a lot, I found it difficult to spend more time to attend a "virtual" conference. (This is the same problem I have with reading blogs. At least, driving and a digital audio player have worked well for staying engaged with some podcasts.)

I watched David Warlick's opening keynote this past weekend and the recording of the related Fireside Chat, and the themes of the conference seem connected to what at least some faculty here at D-E have been thinking and talking about informally and during formal professional development days we've already had.

So this year, I am going to try to "attend" at least three sessions (and maybe one a day as a "reach" goal) each week. A purpose I'm affiliating with this is to identify some sessions that faculty here at D-E might find interesting and motivating. I still haven't figured out how (mostly the problem is when) to do this yet, but I'd like to get some groups of teachers into a room together to view some of these presentations to generate ideas and conversation. Maybe also to "sell" the conference a bit as a way for those motivated enough to find the time outside of school to dive deeper through a self-guided "tour".

As part of my attempt to focus more time on faculty professional development and training, I may write a little here on the conference presentations as a possible guide to sessions D-E teachers should check out. Maybe this post will be buried at least a few messages deep under newer posts in two weeks? Stay tuned and see how this works out.

If you are interested in learning more about the K12 Online Conference, the First-Timers page is a good place to start. The easiest way to jump into participating or viewing the sessions is via the schedule. Note that links to sessions are posted as each session is "released" or started. While the sessions are released at the date and time specified, you can participate in the sessions any time after that. If you just don't know where to start or get overwhelmed by all the different links and information on the conference website , heed these suggestions quoted from one of the conference guides:

Don't try to take it all in at once. Pick a strand and follow it. View, perhaps, only one presentation per day.
There is approximately one synchronous [live] activity per week but remember, these are archived so you can always catch up later, if the timing does not work for you.

The strands are described here.

As always, if you see anything here that you want to know more about stop me and talk about it (if you are at D-E) or post a comment if you are not or that's your preference.

Comment on Warlick's post on teachers teaching themselves

2007-05-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

I still have not caught up with reading all of the interesting reactions and comments resulting from the Times story on one-to-one computing. Even those who have criticized the author should acknowledge that she incited some interesting conversations.

In David Warlick's weblog post Of Course I think it Matters, which is a reply to comments on the story, he raises an occasional frustration with teachers who are not prepared teach themselves and mentions it may be that they are from a generation that learned how to be taught more than how to learn independently. Some comments on that post and the original about the Times story say teachers should be teaching themselves new technology skills.

As a provider of professional development to teachers, I had never thought about PD in that way. However, now that I have, I am thinking that argument provides another reason to developing training resources that can be made available to teachers as they want them. I've been thinking that at D-E we need more resources such as written tutorials and short recorded demonstrations available to teachers asynchronously. While I am not ready to put the entire responsibility of learning new technology skills onto teachers by themselves, I believe we should make the resources available for independent learning and review of new skills.

Another comment on the Times article on one-to-one computing

2007-05-11T00:26:00.000-04:00

If you'd like to read another reaction to the May 4 Times article from an advocate of classroom computing, see David Warlick's entry about this on 2 Cents Worth. He raises a point common to media reporting that good news is no news. In addition, read the comments to the article, they add a lot to the conversation including a disagreement about the need for teacher professional development.

In the spirit of trying to understand both sides of an argument, I would be very interested in reading reactions from someone who believes one-to-one computing is inappropriate, which is contrary to my opinion and my post on May 6. If anyone reads this and knows of a link to a differing opinion, please include them in a comment here. Thanks.